-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Reflections, Research, and Resources for Good Practice

Thursday, 26 November 2015

Global Integrators--22

Faith-Based
FoundationsChristian Worldview

The Swiss Alps--view from the French Jura Mountains

(November 2015)

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Member Care
Updates and Global
Integration Updates.

We think that the time
is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally,
visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully
integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity.
Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect
and act on what it means to
be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider
what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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This entry identifies 10 core
beliefs from a Christian worldview that are very relevant for our work as
Global Integrators. These core beliefs are foundational for how we ourselves engage
with the current efforts in the world community to help “transform our world”
and “restore humanity.” It is still a work in progress and undoubtedly there
will be additions and adjustments.

We think that it is not necessary to
downplay the central place of faith in our life and work. Nor do we need to
primarily refer to our spiritual commitments, motivations, and affiliations in generic (and safer?)
terms like being “faith-based”—e.g., “I am and my organization is faith-based.” After
all, there are about 6.5 billion humans that claim allegiance to some religion—by
far the majority of humanity. So why not simply say, ‘I am a Muslim” or “I am a
Hindu” or “I am a Christian” etc? That would make life a lot simpler. It’s also
about respecting all people in all our diversity—acknowledging deeply our commitment
to human dignity and worth and the common good.

So we want to just say who we are--and
above all to just be who we are--as we work in global integration. That includes the central place of Jesus Christ in all that we do. For some related
thoughts have a look through the previous entries on Global Integrators, Many
of the core foundational beliefs below are mentioned or highlighted in the previous 20+ entries on Global Integrators, with the most important one being the Preeminent Pantocrator.

Foundations and Worldview

The Centrality of Jesus Christ

1.God is both transcendent and personal—God
is good and just; God loves people.

2.God is involved in human affairs/history—there
is a central, restorative purpose in history, although it is not always specifically clear to human understanding.

3.Our world and people are wonderful, yet are
seriously flawed and in desperate need of help.

4.Evil exists—it is the perversion of
the good, the most serious flaw. Evil is not simply synonymous with ignorance, mistakes, or misunderstandings.

5.Personal restoration, including repentance
from evil and reconnecting with God, is essential for personal transformation and world transformation.

6.Human efforts at transformation are
extremely important, yet fare better when there is acknowledgement of and
dependence on God.

7.The missio Dei--the vast, diverse, and central restorative purpose-action of God in the world-- is a relevant concept for understanding how God is at work
in the world to bring transformation in many ways.

8.People of faith (focus here on
Christians, the church) can be informed by science, humanities, good practice, and
especially the Scriptures as they work with others towards transformation within
the missio Dei.

9.People of faith and people of no faith, and everyone in-between, have a
responsibility to love and serve others and to care for the planet.

10.Jesus Christ is understood to be the Savior and Lord, the preeminent One, who
sacrificially gave His life to restore all people to God, the One who ultimately
will transform the world by making all things new. He is seen as the ultimate
foundation for our efforts to make the world better, the foundation for life, faith,
hope—for everything. “No one can
establish a foundationother than the
one which is laid,which is Jesus Christ.
I Cor. 3:11

Welcome to CORE Member Care

We work with international colleagues on strategic projects that support humanitarian, mission ,and development workers and their organisations.

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We post core materials thatreflect some of the current cutting edges of good practice in the member care field. The materials are intentionally chosen to help us think broadly, look into our own hearts, explore member care in light of current world events, and consider additional ways to ethically provide resources to the international humanitarian and mission sectors.*We seek to integrate the educational values of knowledge, virtue, and duty (eruditio, probitas, and officium) in all that we do.*The materials on this weblog are chosen to encourage us as learners-practitioners who are committed to cross cultures, disciplines, and sectors for mutual learning and good practice.*****